"Age Which Wines?"

by Fred McMillin

Prologue

"Knowing which wines will age best is, in the
long run, a matter of becoming familiar with
many different wines and styles of winemaking; in
other words, a lifetime of research."
...Larry Walker, San Francisco Chronicle

The Rest of the Story

To save you a little research time, here are
my tasters' ratings of the last 16 wines we've
poured that were over 10 years old.

Rating

Age (Yrs.)

Type

Price Range

The Wine

16th

-

66.5

13

Pink

Low

Brotherhood Harvest Blush
(U.S.A.'s oldest winery) (pictured)

15th

-

68

12

Red

Low

Historic Mission wine I had
made for my classes by Story Winery

14th

-

68.5

23

White

Low

"Pinot Chardonnay" by Wente
('76)

13th

-

69

13

White

Low

Scuppernong by Mother Vineyard

12th

-

69.3

11

Red

Medium

Pinot Noir by Eyrie Vineyards,
Oregon ('88)

11th

-

69.5

11

Off-dry Pink

Medium

Tokachi Rosé (brought
from Japan by my son)

10th

-

70

25

Red

$29

Clos Du Bois' 2nd release
of Pinot Noir ('74)

9th

-

72

12

White

Low

3rd Symphony vintage by Chateau
De Baun

8th

-

74

15

Red

Low

Cabernet Sauvignon by Fetzer
('84)

7th

-

77

16

Red

Low

Reserva Rioja, Cerro Anon,
Spain ('83)

6th

-

78

14

Red

Medium

Cabernet Sauvignon by Clos
Pegase

5th

-

79

13

Red

Medium

Crozes Hermitage, Bernard Chave,
Rhone Valley

4th

-

88

11

Dessert

$22

Ficklin Aged-10-Yrs. Port

3rd

-

88.5

14

Red

Medium

Lake's Folly Cabernet Sauvignon,
Australia

2nd

-

89

14

Red

$20

Chateau Magdelaine, St. Emilion,
Bordeaux

1st

-

92

12

Red

$16

Cabernet Sauvignon by Robert
Mondavi, Napa Valley ('87) 1990

Observations

1. Wines rated below 80 to 82 do not please the majority
of my tasters. Only the last four were good enough to
be recommended.

2. No white or rosé made the cut.

3. The two wines over 20 years of age bombed.

4. Seven of the top eight were red, the other a
dessert port.

Conclusion for Beginners

Until you gain more experience, don't bother to age
whites or rosés, (or sparklers).
If you want to try aging, buy a Robert Mondavi Cab.

Note: A number of the low-rated wines were much better earlier,
including the Clos Du Bois, the Eyrie & the Clos Pegase.